


Snake around your cup

by Sashaya



Series: Skyhold's Finest Men [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Assassination Attempt(s), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of Murder, Mentions of Violence, No Character Death, posioning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 12:45:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7439896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sashaya/pseuds/Sashaya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Dorian crumbles. His assassin will have to deal with the sudden attention. </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snake around your cup

**Author's Note:**

> ŻoŻo doesn't really like how this one went but still have her blessing. Thank you, you amazingly awful creature!
> 
>  
> 
>  ** _Disclaimer:_** _I don't own any of the characters._

Dorian crumbles. He grabs the table on his way down, drawing attention to his fallen form. Not necessary something he wanted but he also didn’t ask to be poisoned. 

His assassin will have to deal with the sudden attention. 

People are screaming his name and they all sound scared, worried about him. Dorian would be touched and annoyed if he wasn’t in so much pain. 

“Dorian, darling, look at me” Adremen lifts his face and Dorian tries to focus his eyes on him. 

It’s a good picture to die to, Dorian decides. 

“Amatus” Dorian breaths out.

The poison is working slowly, it can’t be Tevinter. In the Imperium, they prefer the victim dead before he can point at his killer. 

So the assassination order didn’t come from Venatori or one of the magisters. 

Dorian’s lungs are on fire and he’s pretty sure that he’s coughing up smoke now. 

Someone wants him to suffer, it’s personal.

This doesn’t really help, who ordered the hit.

“We know, darling. Try not to talk” Adremen says. Apparently, Dorian’s been sharing his thoughts out-loud as always, when no-one asked him. 

“Amatus” Dorian says and waits for Adremen to focus on him. “It will be fine. Ask the dwarf, he’ll tell you I’m like a pest. Cannot get rid of me”

He hears Varric chuckle nearby despite the chaos. 

Dorian reaches for his lover’s face but he’s too weakened. Adremen catches his hand and kisses his knuckles. Dorian smiles at him. 

“Bull!” Adremen shouts. “Lift him up. I can’t… I can’t”

“Will do, Boss” Bull doesn’t waste anymore time. He lifts the mage up like he weighs nothing and he expects to hear Dorian complains about being treated like a sack of potatoes. 

When no curse comes, he looks at the pale face and swears. 

“Boss, we don’t have time” 

“I noticed” Adremen snaps and runs a hand through his hair. He’s starting to panic. “Put him down somewhere…”

“My chamber is the closest” Cullen volunteers and Bull follows the commander out of the hall.

“I’ll inform Vivienne and send healing potions your way” Josephine says, sensing the Inquisitor’s hopelessness. 

“Thank you” Adremen nods. “Leliana…” he calls for the spymaster but she’s already gone. In the middle of the chaos, no-one noticed Lady Nightingale slipping away in the shadows. 

The moment Dorian’s body hit the floor, she was on the hunt for those responsible. Her first objective is to retrieve a sample of the poison used, which will be useful for creating an antidote. It’s always better than a simple healing potion, you can never know what nasty surprises a poison can leave. 

Her next mission would be to extract information about the hit. And she will not be pleasant about it.

“Sparkler will be fine, he’s a fighter” Varric tells Adremen. “We all are. He won’t just give up. He’ll be up and about in no time, complaining about this being the worst attempt on his life”

“Varric” Cassandra shakes her head. “This is not the right time” _and those are not the right words, goes unsaid._

“Yes, it appears so” Varric watches the Inquisitor collect himself and walk out of the hall. It’s not difficult to guess, where he’s going. Varric turns to Sera and Cassandra. “Fancy a hunt?”

“Oh, tits will roll!” Sera takes off before anyone moves, a cruel grin plastered to her face. 

The rest follows as bloodthirsty as starved hounds. 

 

*

 

“Amatus, look” Dorian is a little bit better after several healing potions and he’s annoyed at not being allowed to move. “I did get into Cullen’s bed in the end”

Adremen and Bull laughs, while Cullen blushes a bright red and mutters something under his breath. It feels almost normal.

“Judging by the lack of annoying elves and dwarves, I take they are otherwise occupied?” Dorian sends Adremen a knowing look. 

“They went hunting” the Iron Bulls replies, wicked grin on his face.

“Hunting, eh? Wonder what kind of prey they will drag in…”

“Hopefully alive, so I can also deal with them” Adremen sits by Dorian’s side on the bed. In no time, he’s holding Dorian’s hand. 

“It’s nothing, amatus” Dorian repeats the title like he’s afraid he hasn’t said it enough. “It’s not the first attempt on my life, it won’t be the last. Actually, I’m quite surprised how long it took for someone to try and kill me”

“Aaaand that’s my cue to leave” Cullen mutters to himself and Dorian rolls his eyes.  


“I’ll be outside the door, Boss” Bull says and winks at Dorian. “Don’t piss him off, ‘Vint”

“Out with you, you brute” Dorian turns to his lover, when the door closes. “Say something”

“What would you like me to say, Dorian?” Adremen pulls away. “That I’d rather you didn’t make light of someone trying to kill you?”

“Like we don’t unravel assassination plots against you every week!”

“Dorian, stop” Adremen sighs. This is not what he wants. He doesn’t want to argue with Dorian when he almost lost him. “Do you know who would want you dead?”

Dorian laughs. It’s bitter and lacks joy. 

“That would be a long list, amatus”

“Anyone in particular that comes to your mind?” Adremen presses. 

Dorian is silent for a bit.

“My first thought was that my father finally got what he wanted” Dorian says quietly. “But poison isn’t his style, I’d say”

“From what I know, your father would rather see you back in Tevinter as his heir and not a dead man”

“Times fly, amatus” Dorian smiles sadly. “It’s not impossible for my father to change his mind. Especially, if he has such a ruffian for a son”

Adremen pulls Dorian for a kiss but the mage stops him.

“Lingering poison, remember?” Dorian says, pointing at his lips. Adremen swears and decides on pressing a kiss on Dorian’s forehead. 

“Darling, what about… an ex-lover?”

“Oh, no. That’s certainly not the case” Dorian says and Adremen gestures for him to continue. “It would mean that any of them had feelings for me. I was just a warm body and that’s how we liked it”

It never sat well with Adremen how Dorian was treated by his lovers in the past. He presses a kiss to the man’s hand. 

“You are such a sap, amatus”

“So I am” Adremen smiles. Dorian looks livelier and healthier than an hour ago. It’s good to see the color coming back to his face. “I will check on the children, darling. You should get some rest”

“Just don’t try to stop Sera from her fun” Dorian says and settles comfortably on the pillow. 

“I’ll do my best, darling”

 

*

 

The assassin is an easy prey, soft and careless and stupid, thinking there wouldn’t be a pack of bloodthirsty wolves on his back. He believes no-one will follow him for hurting one of their own. 

Leliana finds him first and she’s disgusted at how easy it is, like following a child in a sunny day.

By the time, the rest catch up with her, the assassin is begging for mercy or death. No-one really cares to listen. 

Leliana’s first objective is fulfilled without a hitch. The vial with poison is secured with the spymaster. The second objective turns out to be more problematic and Leliana welcomes the arrival of the elf, dwarf and Seeker. 

They are bloodied and vicious, angry with the lack of answers when the Inquisitor joins them.

No-one hears the man pleading for death. 

No-one cares when he dies.

No-one leaves with the answer.

 

*

 

Dorian stands by the window, clutching a medallion in his hand.

He’s mourning the end of his peaceful days.


End file.
